This oil painting is from my recent trip to Africa and the Haibun poem after the image will explain the scene. It was glorious morning with wonderful people in a beautiful place. I tried to capture the early morning dark, and chill air, with just a hint of light on the field and spider webs.
9×12 oil on panel
Silver spider webs
Spectral spider webs
Glowing tears on spun cotton
Capture cool dawn sky
Mystery shapes rise ghostly
Darkness of night slowly ebbs
We drove out onto the Tai Pan very early just as the sun came up. In an open Land Cruiser, the morning chill was heightened by the wind blowing back through the open window. The world was surreal, dreamlike, and was cloaked in mystery and romance. We were looking for the Kalahari’s Black Mane Lion. Driving down the dirt path we came to a field where everything was covered in beautiful delicate spider webs. It looked like someone had covered the world with Grandmother’s antique crochet doilies. In the distance was the distinctive call of male lions, marking their territory, but they would have to wait while we spent precious moments admiring one of the remarkable treasures of the African desert.
Night melts into day
Lets sunlight warm the shadows
Translucent darkness
Absorbs the golden blanket
Sounds crawl out to fill the air